The domestic boxing schedule is vibrant again this weekend when Mexican Mauricio Lara, the number one featherweight on the planet, takes on Leigh Wood, fourth place and WBA belt holder. The lavish competition, certainly not without fire, took place on Saturday night (February 18) inside Nottingham Arena, where Wood beat Michael Conlan last March in the best match of 2022.
Wood’s progress over the past two years has been unparalleled in British boxing. In three matches, after a narrow 10-round loss to “Jazza” Dickens in February 2020, he stopped Reece Mold in a ‘pick you’ match for the vacant England title (February 2021). . Given that trajectory, it’s a bit of a surprise that Lara, 25-2-1 (18), is the favorite here.
The 24-year-old’s stellar form can be explained by a solitary performance. Two years ago, almost to this day, tough Lara stunned then-department leader Josh Warrington behind closed doors at Wembley Arena. Leeds’ favorite player, who admitted he had underestimated Lara, suffered quite a bit that night after suffering an early injury and falling badly in the fourth inning before he was released. rescue in the ninth inning. As with all such big shocks, that possibility of a stroke of luck – coupled with Warrington’s bold decision to take immediate revenge – led to a rematch that was cut in the second half when a collision occurred. touching the head caused Lara to bleed profusely and the match was considered a technical draw.
In fact, although only a fool would underestimate Lara, bettors are putting their faith in the Mexican, priced at 4/9, purely for the sake of the first attempt against Warrington. Aside from that melodramatic outing, he’s still an unproven quantity – at least in terms of his true potential to be an all-conquering divisional leader. Although he has scored two KOs in the third round (versus Emilio Sanchez and Jose Sanmartin unannounced) since his return to Josh, he still has some way to go to prove himself.
What’s undeniable is Lara’s ability to deal damage to opponents and we’ve seen Wood get hit, injured, fell and slashed in recent outings. Therefore, it is easy to foresee a scenario in which the Nottingham player is burned and then stopped when Lara, something demonic inside the square circle, lunges forward with two wings. hand on fire. But Lara, at least on all the evidence we have, is not a cultured finisher and, even when in full swing, he himself can appear crude and overly cute. And it’s those rough edges that Wood, 26-2 (16) and his coach Ben Davison scrutinized throughout the preparation for this competition.
“Winning energizes me,” explains Woods. “Lara has a style that suits me. For me, Conlan is completely wrong in terms of style, but style makes for fights and I’m confident in my abilities.
“If I had approached this fight wrong, it could have been brutal. Lara is great and we saw that in the first fight with Josh Warrington, but if I follow my plan, this fight won’t be halfway there – I’ll get Lara out of there.”
It should be noted that this is a contest that Wood doesn’t have to enter, at least to keep his sanctioned body belt. But winning here would greatly enhance his reputation and win or lose, the 34-year-old deserves praise only for accepting such a difficult task.
Lara labeled Wood a “chicken” and accused him of faking the injury that caused the match to be postponed late last year. Neither of these insults makes any sense, though, especially when one assumes the Mexicans are working for them now that the competition has been rescheduled. If he’s afraid of Lara, then Wood is on the wrong track.
Inside the ring, Wood will also have nowhere to run. Lara will come find the belt-keeper; He aims to sever the ring with a suffocating approach and cost his prey close by. But it’s the way he seems to bundle his punches together that Wood will believe he can exploit. Lara likes to leverage his punches with wide turns, shots that focus speed and power on the fly but the blows still keep his chin wide open in the process. Logically, if Wood can stay alert and quick to counterattack, then Lara could soon unravel.
We don’t know what would happen if Lara kept getting burned. Will that bully-like mindset start to falter or will his chin be equipped to resist the kind of power we know Wood abounds. Likewise, although Wood has regained his footing against Conlan, we can’t be sure he would have done the same if Lara – a stronger smasher than the Northern Irishman – was the one to place him. we are there. We should also be careful not to get caught up in Lara destroying Warrington (his only win at the highest level) when we consider that, with Josh reeling and barely out of control. To her senses, it took Lara several innings to apply the touch finish.
It was a really exciting match and certainly cannot be called a match without any degree of certainty. Lara is now two years older than his breakout performance against Warrington and may indeed be on track to transform into the more accomplished fighter he promised. Ten years older than his opponent, and after the most grueling encounters with Conlan that could add miles to his meter, Wood may have reached the pinnacle.
In a call that might not make sense if Lara really goes on to be the force many in the trade believe he will be, we pick Wood to once again prove the bookies wrong and win. win. While this matchup had all the ingredients needed to stop the match, this match could go on for a full 12 games, as Wood proved too cultured and disciplined when that really mattered most.
On the extra card, Sheffield’s Dalton Smith, 13-0 (10), makes the second defense of England’s ultralightweight title against Egham’s Billy Allington, 10-1-4. It looks like a routine outing for the esteemed champion.
Smith faced some unwarranted criticism in his previous outing when he beat the talented Kaisee Benjamin in 12 rounds in November. That might be exactly the kind of test Smith needs to take. to graduate to the next level. And that’s a level that Allington is a long way from.
The 28-year-old challenger was once an English and Southern Zone player, but in his most intense matches, against second- and third-tier opposition in the country, he was forced to dig deep to reach get results. Last time, in November, he was held to a draw by Ben Fields for six innings. To go from there to ousting Smith is certainly a leap too far. We expect Dalton, 26, to hold about halfway through.
Promising Irish men’s tennis player, Garry Cully of Daas, got another chance to show his promise in a 10-round match against Puerto Rican Wilfredo Flores, 10-0-1 (5). Cully, 15-0 (9) and 27 years old, has impressed in almost every game but Flores, despite being over six years old, is a worthy opponent and will win.
But the almost unbelievably tall light weight (6ft 2ins) is a 1/12 favorite for good reason. This may not be all one-way traffic, but despite that, an annoyance seems unlikely. Cully to win a wrong decision.
Also on the card are Birmingham’s Gamal Yafai (who should have been too smart for Argentina’s Diego Alberto Ruiz in their super chicken class 10th round tie), Northampton’s Kieron Conway (expected to push back the former) (Portuguese soldier Jorge Silva in super-middle class eight) and prospective cruiser, Cheavon Clarke.
VERIFY – Unacceptable fares on bill where winners see their reputation in feather class skyrocket.
